


The Damned City

by Asunnyside



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Canon Autistic Character, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Misunderstandings, but they work it out, lots of them - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-06-25 03:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15630867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asunnyside/pseuds/Asunnyside
Summary: Takes place 3 years after Qoaad.Kit And Ty find themselves in the midst of a mystery, someone or something is after Kit. He seems to be the Key to bringing about a new type of evil. The Fallen Ones. The Godless Ones. If awakened this could very well be the end of Nephilim.----Kit had only ever truly been blown away with the realization of just how beautiful Ty was once, though he was always painfully aware of it. It had been the first time he had ever met Tiberius Blackthorn, in the basement of his father’s house. He had had a knife pressed to his throat and had still been completely floored. But now, with the light of the moon making Ty's skin practically glow in the darkness and his black hair falling into his face in stark contrast, he looked glorious, like the righteous Angels mundanes wrote about in their novels.





	1. Starbucks Bleed-out

Tiberius Nero Blackthorn sat perched atop a steal beam that jutted out above the lights of downtown Manhattan. The cool wind of the evening blowing gently through his hair. One hand fluttered restlessly at his side while the other twirled a butterfly knife deftly between his fingers. A deep glower was set upon his face as he watched the mundanes pass below unaware of his presence. With a huff he stood, pulling his phone from the pocket of his gear. At the start of their patrol Ty and his group had been ambushed by a pack of raveners. In the momentary confusion he had lost sight of Kit. He wasn't necessarily worried at first, it had been many years since they had first met, the both of them now eighteen, and Ty Knew Kit was no longer a stranger to battles; they had trained together for years and Kit had picked it up with astonishing ease. Kit could hold his own. It wasn’t the distance that made Ty nervous. It was the steady silence of his phone. He knew from experience that it didn't take that long to dispatch of a few raveners. And it was the strangeness of his disappearance. One minute he and Kit had been dancing around each other, their blades flashing in the moonlight, and the next Ty was on the ground pinned under a ravener. By the time he had dispatched of it Kit and the rest of the raveners were gone. And there was no trace of a struggle, because Kit wouldn't have just left him. There was nothing. Ty had called him multiple times after that and gotten nothing but a busy signal, loud and deafening in his brain.

He spun the knife faster.

Kit could be dead for all Ty knew. And he hated that; not knowing…With an irritated flick of his wrist he spun the knife back onto his weapons belt before falling gracefully from the beam. He caught himself on another beam nearer to the ground, slowing his decent before landing in a crouch. He stood, pulling his head phones up over his ears, before exiting out onto the busy street and began to walk.  
Small Boutique shops and eateries lined either side of the street, as well as entrances to offices for mega corporations and small businesses alike. So it was no surprise that the streets were uncomfortably crowded. Everything was as it always was, so much so that Ty nearly didn’t notice the tall blond boy standing amidst a flock of mundane females.

Ty Froze, his head whipping around to stare incredulously. Irritation crept throughout his entire body. Kit was standing in the middle of a group of pretty girls, all fawning over him, with a radiant smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Ty had always thought the Herondales were unfairly beautiful. The portraits hanging in the London institute, the old pictures and even Jace, were all exquisite. And Kit was no exception. In the years since they had met, Kit had grown taller, his muscles filling out and his cheeks becoming more angular. The resemblance to Jace becoming more apparent in the shape of his deep blue eyes, the set of his jaw, and even the lazy smirk that came so easily now. He was devastating, and he knew it. And girls had become painfully aware of how splendid a specimen Kit was, especially mundane girls.  
Ty glowered, his gray eyes meeting Kits vibrant blue ones for the briefest moment before flicking away, downwards and overwhelmed. Ty turned angrily and continued back in the direction he had been heading in, whipping out his phone and sending a quick text to Dru, listening as Kit caught up to him. He shot a glare in Kit’s direction as he fell into step beside him.

“Ty, the weirdest-“. Kit began, but Ty whirled on him glaring viciously at his collarbone.

“You could have texted me.” He said “That you were ok and not dead somewhere. I’ve been freaking out looking for you everywhere and you’re fine, hanging out here flirting with a bunch of mundanes.”

In the corner of Ty’s eye he saw Kit’s expression harden from surprise to something else (maybe irritation?) Before he spoke, his voice straining to sound composed.

“In what world do I ever not contact you first?” It was more of a statement, than a question. Because in all of Ty’s and Kit’s memory it had never happened. Which is why it had stung.

“In whatever world this is that you don’t want to be my parabatai.” Ty said. His eyes locking with Kit’s, taking in the flash of distress across his face before turning and stalking away.

***

Kit didn’t pursue the topic. He also didn’t mention what had happened during the raveners attack. Ty had been bitter towards him for weeks, and if he didn’t want to hear what Kit had to say, he wasn’t going to force him to listen. He would just discuss it with Jace when they got back to the institute. Although that did not stop him from sulking as he followed the taller boy in silence. It wasn’t because Ty was mad at him so much. He understood why, he really did. He’d of been upset too if he was in Ty’s position. He was sulking because he didn’t know how to explain to Ty why he had rejected his request to become parabatai and that because of his lack of an explanation Ty’s trust in him seemed to be failing.

After Livia’s death Ty and Kit had become extremely close. Circumstances and bad decisions had made them nearly inseparable, and once things had calmed down, even if just a little, that closeness had remained. It was during all the bad decision making that Kit had started to realize the way he felt about Ty. But he would have never in a million years divulged that information to him. So he kept it quiet. For years, he kept it to himself. He figured Ty wasn’t interested like that and they would remain friends and he would be alright with that. The last thing he had expected, however, was for Ty to want to be parabatai. He had thought, after Livy, Ty wouldn’t want to be parabatai with anyone; but he had been wrong.

It had only been three weeks since Ty had posed the question. They had been lounging in the Library of the New York institute reading about old Nephilim myths and various downworlder folklore. They had both been sprawled out on the loveseat, Ty's legs spread out over Kits lap. It had been a calm moment between them, and Kit had been enjoying it, the warm pressure of Ty's legs over his. The sensation still fresh in his mind even weeks later. He hadn't been in any rush to move or to do anything to disturb Ty, so when Ty had suddenly sat up, tucking his legs underneath himself, Kit couldn't help the tiny noise of disappointment that had escaped his lips. Ty had either not heard it or had paid it no mind, he had seemed to be steadying himself, his hands fidgeting in his lap. Kit had watched for a moment before opening his mouth to ask what was wrong, only to be interrupted by Ty.

"We should be parabatai." He said, a nervous smile gracing his lips. Kit had only allowed himself to be distracted by the rare smile for a brief second before the words hit him. He blanched. Being parabatai with Tiberius was the last thing he wanted. He had seen firsthand what Emma and Julian had gone through and though the situation was remarkably different (seeing as Kit's feelings weren't necessarily reciprocated) it still was not something he was willing to risk. Ty had shifted uncomfortably and opened his mouth to say something else but Kit didn't give him the opportunity.

"No." He had blurted, his voice tense and harsh in the silence. Ty's mouth snapped shut and his eyes flicked up to look at Kit briefly, the hurt in them palpable.

"I can't. Not-...not with you Ty." and before Ty could question him or before he could break under guilt form the hurt on his face, Kit had stood and left the room.

Now, as they stalked up the familiar steps of the institute in awkward silence, Kit almost regretted turning Ty down. Almost. As much as Kit would do for Ty (and that was not said lightly-kit’s thoughts had crossed into dark territory on more than one occasion) he was not that self-sacrificing. With a heavy sigh Kit Brushed past Ty, heading to his room.  
Ignoring the dull pain in his arms he stripped and took a quick shower, washing the blood and the ichor from his body, the scene in the library playing on repeat as it had for the last several weeks. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he exited the shower and threw on some sweats and a long sleeved t-shirt, not bothering to dry his hair before making his way to the Library where he Knew Ty and Dru would be waiting with Jace. He was the last to enter the room and ignoring the light glower still on Ty’s face he flopped down next to Dru on the loveseat.

“Nice of you to join us.” Jace said teasingly a small smirk playing on his lips. “I heard you had a wicked night.” His smirk grew bigger and Kit scowled before standing grasping his hands behind his back.

“I did.” He said with a humorless smile, “Woke up in a Starbucks bathroom with both my wrists slit. You know how much I love BDSM.” He heard Dru swear and in the corner of his eyes he saw Ty’s head shoot up in alarm. Kit glanced over and saw the worry clear on his face; his eyebrows knit, and his fingers flexing. He sighed.

“The last thing I remember was Ty being pinned to the ground by that ravener. I went to help and then suddenly it was black and the next thing I know I was waking up in the bathroom, in a puddle of my own blood.” He added, gentler this time, before flopping back down next to Dru. He felt her small hand find his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before pulling away. He appreciated the gesture more than she knew. 

An hour later, after Jace and Ty had grilled him, getting as much detail as he could remember about the incident, Kit found himself sprawled out on his bed, his wrists exposed above him. He had divulged that whatever blade had filleted his wrists had been enchanted, but he hadn't disclosed why he believed that. He ran a finger over the split skin wincing at the sharp pain that followed. When he had woken up, dazed and confused, he had called Ty's name. When he recieved no answer he realized where he was exactly and that he was very much bleeding out on the floor. His wrists had been more than slit, from the edge of his palm to the crease of his elbow his arms had been sliced open. In alarm, he had hurriedly applied an iratze to each arm, before crying out as a white hot pain flashed through him. He had never experienced pain like that in his life and it had left him panting in a heap on the floor, the iratze having only worked well enough for his wounds to just barely begin clotting. 

He had stumbled out of the bathroom (after attempting to clean up the puddle of blood as best he could) into the dim lighting of a Starbucks. The barista behind the counter had jumped in surprise at Kit's sudden appearance and Kit had squinted back, before stumbling out of the shop and onto the street outside, pulling his phone from his pocket to try and contact Ty. When he saw that it had no power, he had stood there frowning and disoriented trying to figure out why his phone was dead, when it had been at a full charge. The sound of giggles broke him from his daze and he had glanced up to see a group of girls eyeing him in the distance. They had waived and he had given them a half-assed smile, and waived back. Somehow they had translated that as an invitation to approach him and he was surrounded in moments, irritation clawing at the back of his head. He had been about to ask them to fuck off nicely, when he had caught a gleam of pale skin glowing in the moonlight and messy black hair. His head had snapped in Ty's direction their eyes meeting briefly, and he had immediately excused himself, much to the chagrin of the girls. 

"That looks awful." A voice from the doorway said, breaking him from his reverie.

Kit shot up, whipping his head round to stare up at the tall dark haired boy standing in the entrance to his room. Ty was leaning against the frame with a roll of bandages and some kind of awful looking green antiseptic clutched in his long fingers.

"Christopher Jonathan Herondale." Ty began, "You have been keeping a lot of things from me lately and I don't like it."


	2. Self-Preservation

Ty strode from the doorway and plopped down onto the bed next to Kit, taking his wrists gingerly. The skin around the gashes was red and mottled, puckering where it had been separated. The lines neat and uniform, giving credibility to Kit’s theory about a knife having been used, someone purposefully and carefully leaving the cuts. But the question was who? And why? Nephilim weren’t necessarily popular these days but usually if someone went out of their way to abduct and injure a Shadowhunter, they didn’t leave them alive. Ty bit his lip, his hands flexing involuntarily, as he forced the thoughts of Kit lying dead in a puddle of his blood to the back of his mind.  


“Were you…going to mention this to me, at all?” he asked as he began to gently dab some of the green antiseptic along the open wounds.  


“Nope.” Kit said bluntly “I’m surprised you even noticed to be honest.”  


“Of course I did, I’m always watching you.” Ty realized, after the silence that followed his admission, that maybe that wasn’t something he should have voiced aloud. It was true, but a vague memory from when he was younger surfaced of Julian telling him that sometimes, certain things were better left unsaid. Ty had never been more aware of how little he censored himself around Kit. He took just about everything the blond said at face value and had never once thought to watch how he said things. He had never made him feel as if he had to and that had been great, Ty had thought. Someone who didn’t judge him for the things he did or didn’t understand.  


“Sorry.” He muttered.  


“Don’t be.” Kit said purposefully, his eyes locked on Ty, unwavering and overwhelming, dizzyingly overwhelming. Ty blushed, his hand involuntarily flexing again.  


“Why have you been keeping so much stuff from me lately?” Ty asked quietly as he began to wrap Kit’s arms. The iratze had done just enough that he had just narrowly avoided needing stitches.  


“Self-preservation.” Ty‘s head shot up, his dark eyebrows creasing in offense, his lips parting with a noise of protest.  


“Self-preservation!?” He repeated indignantly. “What do you need to protect yourself from me for?!” He had dug his fingers into Kit’s wounds unintentionally and the blond winced, letting out a hiss of pain.  


“I didn’t mean it like actual protection.” Kit said, a hint of a laugh in his voice. Ty’s grip loosened and reluctantly he went back to bandaging.  
“What did you mean then?”  


“It’s just…There are things I can’t tell you yet. Things that I’m not ready for you to know, mostly because I don’t know how you’ll take it.” Ty watched as Kit worried his lip, wanting to reach out and feel the soft pink skin under the pads of his thumbs. He had long since finished bandaging Kit's arms but he still held his wrists in his hands, tracing patterns against his skin.  
"I promise that I'll tell you what those things are eventually, I'm awful at lying to you." Kit was smiling faintly, his blue eyes studying Ty. In the light of the evening they were obnoxiously bright and crystalline, his hair a golden halo curling gently around his face. Ty's breath hitched the tiniest bit and he had to fight the overwhelming urge to reach out and touch it. To tangle his fingers in his hair and draw him in close.  


He actually might have, if Drusilla hadn’t of bounced in and threw herself on top of Kit.  


“Kit, buddy, bae, sweetheart.” She drawled wrapping her arms around Kit’s neck in a headlock. The moment was effectively stifled and Ty scooted away from the other two in quiet shock. Certain textures had always jumped out at him, and though he couldn’t deny having wanted to reach out and capture bits of Kit’s hair between his fingers on occasion, he had never been so overwhelmed by the urge in the past.  


“You can’t be getting kidnapped like that, gave me and Ty a heart attack man, one minute you’re there, next you’re gone, poof.” Dru was saying as she smirked down at Kit, her long dark brown curls falling delicately over her shoulder.  


“I’ll try to keep that in mind next time.” Dru laughed, her round face lighting up with delight, before flopping down between Kit and her brother, bouncing them all softly, and adding sheepishly,  


“I’m glad you’re ok though.” Ty watched as she took one of Kit’s hands in her own and gave it a squeeze, observing the bandaging. 

“Well, mostly anyways.”  


“I know you guys would miss me, I’m too much of a blessing not to miss.” Ty scoffed as Dru let out a bark of laughter.  


“You wish.” Dru settled in against the wall, folding her legs on the mattress before voicing the thought on all their minds: “Who would go through so much trouble to abduct a Shadowhunter and leave them alive though, who does that?”  


“Gee, thanks.” Kit said sarcastically, “We should all be careful though. We don’t know what they want or if this was a onetime thing…”  


“It seems ritualistic.” Ty cut in, gesturing towards Kits arms. Both Dru and Kit stared at him blankly.  


“What makes you say that?” Dru asked leaning forward to pick at a healing scab on her leg.  


“Well…The cuts are too uniform to have just been senselessly made. They had intent.” Ty shrugged. “And a _lot _of rituals call for some kind of bloodletting.” Dru slid her lips between her teeth thoughtfully.__  


“Ok.” She said “So if this supposed ritual worked, then they’re done with Kit, but then that begs the question what was the ritual for?” She sat up straight, “And then if it didn’t work, they could target any one of us next and we still don’t know what they’re trying to do.”  


“Pretty much. And there’s so many rituals that call for blood it’d be hard to pinpoint any specific one without more details.” Ty’s fingers worked furiously against his legs. The more he thought about it, the odder it seemed that Kit had come out of this alive. Most rituals he had read about, based on context used the term ‘blood’ in an archaic sense. Meaning that usually both the blood and the life were necessary, the act of the blood being spilled in a grotesque enough way to take the life with it. A lot of it was left up to interpretation as well.  


“Well,” Kit began, leaning back against his headboard, stretching his arms and his torso out like a cat, “We won’t get anywhere worrying about it tonight. So let’s just…not.” Dru and Ty watched him, neither quite comprehending how Kit could be so nonchalant about the ordeal. Kit on the other hand, merely shrugged before providing,  


“I’m mostly in shock. It’ll hit me in the morning.”

____

****  


The dull light of the dawn filtered in lazily though the sheer curtains hanging over Dru’s windows. Though it was muted the brightening of her room was still enough to wake her. She blinked sleepily, gazing up at the deep blue mural painted onto her ceiling. Dru was quite proud of her room, the walls were painted a gradient of deep blues, speckled with clusters of silver-white stars, forming swirling constellations. It was like she had captured the universe in her tiny room, and she had done it all on her own, she figured she had gotten that from Julian. Though, Drusilla was far from over her love of horror, she had realized upon moving to New York and experiencing the light pollution first hand, that she rather missed the freedom of the bluffs and the great expanse of sky that spread out behind it, perfectly visible on the outskirts of town. Horror was no longer the only thing that defined her, the freedom of the night sky and the sea salt air was just as much a part of her as blood and guts. She supposed _that _, came from Mark.__  
Kicking her covers from her body, she rolled from bed and padded into the attached bathroom to shower. She had had a restless sleep, her dreams haunted by what could have been. So very easily, Kit could have been taken from them last night, if he had of taken just a minute or two longer to wake, or if whoever had abducted him had felt much less generous…A life was an easy thing to take. By the age of eight, Dru had been all too aware of this fact.  


Pulling the shower curtain back, red blossoming against the stark white of the sheet, she stepped out onto the floor, more red webbing out against the bath mat beneath her. Blood seemed to be all she saw. The blood of her sisters’, the blood of her father, the blood of her brothers’. But the blood beneath her was not real, simply a chemical reaction caused by moisture and the change in temperature. As such, most of the blood she saw was not real.  


Wiping the steam from the mirror, Dru pulled her hair back into a loose braid before dressing comfortably in black joggers and a loose tank top. Kicking her boots on, she strode from her room, intending to go to the training room in the attic, but stopped short as she passed the library. She watched quietly, tilting her head a tiny bit.  


Ty was seated at the desk, his head hidden behind stack upon stacks of books. Toeing the door open wider, she entered, approaching him quietly. His skin was pale but luminescent in the glow of the fire, the faintest trace of shadows beginning to form under his eyes, his dark eyebrows knit above them in a sort of listless worry. His cheek was smooshed against the table, his black curls a disheveled mess spilling over papers with illegible scribbling strewn out beneath him. She wondered briefly if he had even gone to bed. She remembered parting ways with him outside of Kit’s room, but she had not stayed long enough to make sure he had made it back to his own. She reached out, twirling one of his dark curls around her finger absently, waking him in the process. He jolted up, full amaranth colored lips parting in an oath, his hands twitching as if to reach for a weapon he did not have. When he realized it was Dru, he visibly relaxed and she went on, playing with his curl.  


“Did you sleep here?” Dru asked, bemused at her brother’s behavior, though he had done odder things. Ty ran his hands over his face, mumbling something about not having been able to sleep and having wanted to look into blood rituals. Dru smiled ruefully.  


“You are just so damn cute, you and Kit need to hurry up and start dating.”  


“Why would we-?” Ty looked up at her, confusion sparkling in his grey eyes, before a flash of sudden realization passed his face, quickly turning to irritation, his cheeks flushing a bright pink.  


“Oh, shut up.” He hissed snatching a big, rotting, leather bound tome up off the stack of books spread out in front of him. Angrily, he flipped to a page near the back of the massive opus.  


“I was reading,” He started before shooting Dru a _nasty _glance the moment her lips parted with a smart remark. She clamped her lips shut. Ty continued, “I was reading up on different blood rituals, there seem to be a few different rituals that require the blood of a Shadowhunter exclusively, specifically ten, that don’t require the person donating the blood to be killed.”__  


Ty’s hands fidgeted restlessly before catching up in the cord of his head phones, tugging and twisting it mechanically.  


“So there’s ten possible options, amongst a myriad of other rituals that don’t call for Nephilim blood specifically, and I was only really able to eliminate the ones that called for more specific kinds of blood, like werewolves, vampires, I think one even called for the blood of a deity.”  


“A deity?” Dru questioned, falling into the seat beside her brother.  


“Yes, a deity, like the riders of Mannan. Mannan is a deity and his blood runs through their veins, so someone like them, or Mannan would be needed.”  


“Well that’s clearly not Kit, but at least we have a start.” Ty nodded somberly, turning the book to face Dru.  


“This one kind of interested me the most.” He pointed at the old scripture, a mash of Latin and crude diagrams of the human body and a summoning circle decorating the page. “This one calls for the blood of Nephilim, but the ritual requires the blood to be from the median antebrachial vein, which is probably overly specific, but that’s exactly where Kit’s wounds were.” Dru scooted closer, trying to translate the text as best she could, languages had never truly been her strong area.  


“Actually, the entire ritual is extremely specific, from start to finish everything has to be done flawlessly, and some of the items needed are very specific too, it’s to the point it’s obnoxious. Any of the items purchased would probably be very, _very _easy to track…” Ty glanced up, his grey eyes peeking through his dark eyelashes, meeting Dru’s own sea-foam green ones pointedly. Dru smiled mischievously, cracking her knuckles languidly,  
__

__“Well then, let’s start tracking.”_ _


	3. Bad Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not realize it had almost been a year since my last update! Sorry! I've had this chapter written for a while so here it is!

Kit woke with a jolt, sweat plastering his t-shirt uncomfortably to his body. The dream tickled the edges of his consciousness, the contents near gone as his senses returned to him. Pushing back his sweat slick hair, Kit drew his legs up. He rested his elbows atop his knees, his palms pressing hard against his eyelids. He choked on a gasp of air too big for his burning lungs, his heart hammering and exhaustion ebbing into every fiber of his being. He felt as if he had been held under water, every breath painful and labored. He had, he knew without a doubt, been dreaming of the blank period between his disappearance and reappearance in the Starbucks bathroom. Though nearly all of the dream was gone, forgotten, the feeling of cold damp stone against his skin remained, along with the shocking pain of his skin being split open and a faint chanting, the words indiscernible to him in the distance. Kit swallowed thickly, his pulse finally returning to normal.  


Throwing the covers from his body he crawled weakly from bed, grabbing a pair of sweats and stumbling into the bathroom to take a cold shower. He emerged an hour later, his sweats hanging low on his hips and a towel slung over his hair, blond curls hanging lankly in his face, droplets of water dangling from their ends. He wasn’t even aware that there was someone else in the room, until a small clicking alerted him to their presence. His head shot up.  


Ty was perched atop Kit’s bed, twisting a small Rubik’s cube he had gotten him a while back. His sharp cheekbones were flushed a bright pink, and his eyes flicked up to Kit’s chest briefly before refocusing on the Rubik’s cube. Kit felt the corners of his lips pull up into a fond smile.  


“What if I had of walked out naked?” he asked as he padded to his closet to pull on a shirt. Ty set the Rubik’s cube down, its sides now all matching.  


“Then I’d of seen you naked?” He said matter-of-factly before continuing,  


“Dru and I found a possible lead, we were heading to the shadow market if you wanted to come…” he finished, his voice trailing off uncertainly as he slid from the bed. Kit stopped, his heart rate quickening with excitement.  


“You found a lead? Already? Damn, Ty, you are amazing.” If it were at all possible, Kit could’ve sworn Ty’s face went a whole shade darker. Kit’s smile widened as Ty shot him a flustered glower.  


“Ugh, what is with you and Dru this morning?” Ty hissed, turning his back to Kit and starting out the door. Kit let out a bark of laughter as he pulled on his converse and followed after him.  


“What? Did she call you a spectacular human being as well?”  


“No. She called me cute.”  


“Well you’re that too.” He said ruffling Ty’s dark curls affectionately before pushing past him and down the stairs into the foyer where Dru waited.

***

The shadow market was a loud bustling hive of activity just like it always was. Kit let himself become immersed in the feeling of being present in something so familiar. He had spent more than half of his life at the shadow Market and since choosing to become a shadow hunter he had found that chances to visit the market were becoming fewer and farther between. For a while, after the catastrophe a few years prior, Kit had avoided the place altogether. But now, he had a reason to be back and he couldn’t get enough of the strings of nostalgia pulling at his heart. Ty beside him was pressed close, his head phones pulled up around his ears and his fingers flexing and twisting at his sides. Kit almost felt bad taking so much pleasure in something that made his best friend so uncomfortable. Ty had been to the market enough to acquaint himself with the oddity of the Shadow Market, but not nearly enough to become comfortable or intimate with the place the way Kit was. Dru, on the other hand, was buzzing with nervous energy. Kit could quite literally feel the excitement radiating off of her. She had been to the Shadow Market maybe twice in her life and was damn near overwhelmed by it. And Kit couldn’t blame her. The market was an experience all its own. Vendors were placed left and right selling spells, potions, occult ingredients that Kit off the top of his head had no idea what one might use them for, but were in high demand none the less. Some stalls were so obscure in what they sold that Kit couldn’t even begin to fathom what it was they were peddling. Maybe nothing at all? It was a boisterous wonder nestled in a vacuum all its own.  


Their Destination was a stall nestled in the shadows of the market, far away from the main foot traffic of the square and far out of sight.  
Kit let a shiver pass through his body. The alleyway was eerily deserted. It was beneficial to them in the same way that it wasn’t. There were still a few downworlders that sided with the Nephilim, but they were a lot more likely to speak up on their behalf if they were out in the open as opposed to a dank deserted alleyway. It was very unlikely that they would garner much assistance in a dank alleyway. Very, very, unlikely.  


“God, this place gives me the creeps.” Dru mumbled, hugging her dark hoodie closer to herself.  


“It sells very specific items, Dru, it’s not really going to have a lot of customers.” Ty murmured, clearly uncomfortable himself.  


“Yeah, thanks I got that.” Dru said shooting Ty a nasty glare that he did not notice.  


“Children. Let’s not argue.” Kit interceded, as they came upon the stall, drawing the curtain back and allowing Drusilla to duck in. Ty, merely shrugged before adding,  


“I’m not a child.” And ducked in, Kit following close behind.  


Immediately, the scent of something rotten and _**burning**_ , assaulted his nostrils.  


_**__** _ ****

“What is that?” Kit coughed, his eyes watering and stinging. Dru’s hand was clasped tightly over her nose and mouth, trying desperately to keep the smell out. Ty shook his head, his face scrunched up in distaste, when a voice rang out, forcing silence from the group.  


“That is the smell of a dragonidae thorax.” A soft lilting voice rang out, “I found it preserved in an icecap, and it is currently being thawed. It is very good for all kinds of magic, and it is _very_ rare. Now state your purpose Children of the Angel.”  


A woman, extremely tall, and extremely lithe, stepped out from behind a curtain separating the entrance from a smaller back room, her skin shimmering delicate and golden in the enchanted light. The woman looked as if she were made of gold, not in the same way Jace and Kit seemed to be golden, she was not tan and blond haired and chiseled, but she was literally the color of gold, with copper curls and golden horns spiraling from the top of her head. Her presence was magnificent and terrifying. Despite the shockingly plain clothes, jeans and a simple dark blue cowl-neck sweater, she seemed as ancient as some warlocks claimed to be.  


The woman stepped forward gesturing to the small area grandly.  


“Welcome to my abode. I am Antoinette Nine, how may I assist you this fine afternoon?” There was a small hint of bitterness underlying her pleasantness, but for the most part she seemed all business. Neither Dru nor Kit said anything. Something about Antoinette made the hairs on the back of Kit’s neck stand up straight. And Dru must have felt a similar way, considering she was watching Antoinette apprehensively from the farthest spot from the woman.  


“Well let’s not all talk at once.” Antoinette teased lightly, collapsing into a chair, a bit over dramatically. “Goodness! It’s like talking to the dead, though they’re a good deal livelier than this.”  


“They’re usually pretty surly actually. On account of them being dead and all.” Kit interjected, immediately regretting having spoken at all. Antoinette’s gaze landed on Kit, lion’s eyes lighting up mischievously, the first sign of genuine amusement crossing her face.  


“There is such noble blood in my presence. How are you adjusting to the news my dear?” Kit stiffened and beside him he could feel the two siblings go ridged as well. Kit readied himself to speak but, surprisingly, Ty beat him to it.  


“His life and how he is adjusting to it is none of your business.” Ty’s voice was edged and sharp, a tone that was uncommon to hear from him. Kit was stunned into relative silence and could not fight the small smile spreading on his face, and noticed a similar one hidden rather poorly blossoming behind Dru’s hand.  


“I meant no offence child- “  


“I’m not offended. I just don’t like you.” The look on Antoinette’s face turned absolutely sour at Ty’s admission and Kit had to fight very hard against the sudden fit of giggles that threatened to overtake him.  


Antoinette stood, tall and imposing once again.  


“I am not your enemy child. If you want my cooperation, which I so do assume you need, you’d best not anger me.” Her voice was no longer akin to the tinkling of bells, but sharp like thunder crackling and fierce.  


“I’d recommend your cooperation whether you are angry or not.” Ty shot back nearly as tall and extremely stubborn.  


“A good deal of the items in here are pretty rare, and very much frowned upon by the clave.” Dru spoke up eyeballing a blackened, pulsing piece of rock.  


“And who says I’d let you leave to tell.”  


Kit smiled his perfect smile before answering Antoinette agonizingly slow,  


“No one really, there’d just the fact that the head of the New York Institute is expecting us back and knows exactly where we went,” A bluff, but she didn’t need to know that,  


“you’d be the first person they investigated and if you ran, you’d be running for a long time. Wouldn’t be very good for business.”  


“Well, aren’t you children prepared?”  


“Obviously.” Kit Smiled “But we’d like it if you cooperated. Don’t want any bad blood.”  


“Of course not.” Antoinette said venomously sinking back down into her seat,  


“What may I assist you with?”

***

The teens emerged from the tent one by one, in a quiet haze of excitement. Their plan, for the most part, had worked. Antoinette was grudgingly, but quietly helping them. And after being provided with a list of the items needed for the spell, the warlock had supplied them with a small list of individuals that had purchased the items in the last few weeks. It had three names on it:  


Aurora, Dominic Castello, and a Wynona Birch.  


None of the names were familiar but Antoinette had given them enough basic information to at least get started. They had a faerie, a magician and a warlock. A description and a personal item or two. Just enough for a basic tracking rune. Ty nodded thoughtfully as he tucked the small paper into the pocket of his jeans.  


“So which one of those do we investigate first?” Kit asked, sounding distant. He was staring back at the tent they had just left, his eyebrows knit in what appeared to be confusion.  


“Any of them. All of them.”  


“Oooh, we could do a group interrogation. Three against three?” Dru laughed tossing her hair over her shoulder. It seemed almost painful for him to do so, but Kit finally managed to break his gaze away from the tent, he turned it to Dru a smirk playing on his lips,  


“I’m always down for a group interrogation, but foursomes are so much more intimate.” Ty couldn’t help the eye roll.  


“Regardless of whether we go after all of them at once, or one a time, we can’t go in blind. We need a plan and we need to update Jace.”  


“Ok…” Kit nodded, his eyes once again on the tent. “Hey, you two go ahead I’ll meet you back at the institute in a little bit.” Ty’s grey eyes snapped to attention, narrowing as he turned to face kit,  


“No. What are you going to do?”  


“I’m not going to do anything-“  


“Kit, you’re still injured you can’t just go off on your own.”  


“Its fine, I just got something I forgot about, getting kidnapped makes you a bit absent minded, it’ll be fine.” Kit’s voice was a perfect example of calm but the look he shot Dru, a quick pleading look, suggested that whatever he was about to go do was not an absent minded slip as he suggested, but it was what he needed Ty to believe.  


“Oh, leave him be Ty. He’s probably got a hot date he’s tryna go meet. He doesn’t need to fill you in on every little thing he does, you’re not his boyfriend.” 

That seemed to do the trick. Ty spluttered a tiny bit before recovering and shooting Dru a glare,  


“That’s not- I never claimed to be! Fine. Whatever. Do what you want.” And with that he turned and stalked off, long legs carrying him quickly away.  


Kit smiled bitterly  


“Gee, thanks for that Dru.”  


“Eh. You guys will get there eventually.” She shrugged, glancing sideways at Kit, “Just don’t die during whatever this is.” She bumped his shoulder gently before following cheerfully after her brother. When the two had gone, Kit returned his attention back to the tent, the feeling of familiarity gnawing intensely at the back of his head as it had all afternoon.  


“Well, I guess it’s time to get started…”


End file.
